Cup container, dispenser-disposer



April I, 1947. H. B. HAlT I CUP CONTAINER, DISPENSER-DISPOSER Filed Sept. 16, 1945 v INVENTORQ flaward 5. Hair Patented Apr. 1, 1947 UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE 2,418,227 CUP CONTAINER, DISPENSER-DISPOSER Howard B. Has, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application September 16, 1943, Serial No. 502,690

My invention relates to a d spensi g unit fo paper water cups; and relates particularly to a combination dispenser and disposer unit.

I-Ieretofore, dispensers for stacked drinking cups have been made of permanent glass and of metal; and it has been necessary to transfer the stack of paper cups from the original cardboard carton to the glass or metal dome of the dispenser, and then the assembly was placed directly upon or adjacent the water cooler. With the prior art cup dispensers no provision was made to dispose of used cups, and usually the waste paper basket placed close to the water cooler became filled and when additional paper cups were added they fell upon and littered the floor.

It is, therefore, an object of my invention to provide a paper-cup dispenser which utilizes the original carton to serve as part of the dispenser.

It is another object of my invention to provide a support or cap for paper cup cartons.

Another object of my invention is to provide a combination disposer and dispenser unit wherein the used cups are placed in the disposer located adjacent the dispenser whereby both the dispenser and disposer unit may be made of the same type of material.

Another object of my invention is to provide a means for preventing nesting of cups when withdrawn from a dispenser. i

It is another object of my invention to provide a dispenser and disposer unit in which the sections may be detachably connected or it may be as an integral unit of a water cooler.

Other objects of my invention are to provide an improved device of the character described, that is easily and economically produced, which is sturdy in construction and which is highly efiicient in operation.

With the above and related objects in view, my invention consists in the details of construction and combination of parts, as will be more fully understood from the following description, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken through Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the cup container carton indicating the formation of the carton prior to fitting it into the supporting unit.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the cup containing carton prior to the time the flaps at one end are removed.

Referring now in detail to my invention, I show in Fig. 1 a carton supporting or bottom capping 2 Claims. (Cl. 312-43) member, generally designated as A, an original cup containing carboard carton, generally designated as B, and a top carton supporting or top capping member, generally designated as C. The capping members A and C are made of a resin such as a phenolic condensation resin or a methacrylic acid resin, or they may be molded or out from various pieces of wood and assembled as a unit, or they may be made of any other suitable material.

The cardboard carton B filled with cups has a plurality of fo-ldable flaps 95A, i513, and I50 thereon, see Figs. 3 and 4, which serve to close one end of the carton, and crosswise of the carton and adjacent the flaps is a score marking l3,

along which score marking the flaps are to be torn from the carton. Adjacent the score marking 13, there may be corner markings to indicate where corners I2 are to be spread apart for the purpose of suitably fitting into slots 20 located in the bottom capping unit A, hereinafter further described.

The lower carton supporting member A, although shown in part, is really two elements combined; one element portion l9 serves as the cup disposer or cup withdrawal support and its adjacent but not complementary portion 2| serves as a closure support for a disposer carton, generally designated as Bl. The elements l9 and 2| may be made as separate articles.

The lower carton supporting member A has an opening through which the cups are drawn,

which opening may be of a square configuration but any other suitable configuration will be satisfactory. Defining the square cup opening is a convex surface 16 on the bottom capping member A for the purpose of holding the edge of a cup I l; in other words the diameter of the largest end I! of the cup [4 is slightly greater than the narrowest diameter between opposite surfaces of the convex holding surface l6. Directly above the vertically positioned convex surface it is a horizontal ledge it for the purpose of causing the series of cups to separate so that only one cup will be drawn from the carton instead of a plurality of cups, which otherwise would cause wastage of the cups if the cups nestle together and are drawn ed". A lower horizontal ledge EBA parallel to ledge l8 and being located below convex surface i6 serves as an additional cup separating element.

Adjacent the opening of the bottom capping member A but on the upper surface of the capping member is a continuous inclined slot 28 to receive the outturned flaps ll of the carton B. Slot 28 receiving the flaps H of the carton B serves as a secure holding member and it keeps the end of the carton out of cups l4 as each cup drops or is pulled through the opening in the bottom capping member A. An upwardly extending flange 22 embracing the sides of the carton serves as an additional support for the carton B.

The disposer carton bottom support 2| is mounted in the same plane as the cup dispenser bottom supporting member I9 and the support 2| has a square shaped recessed chamber 24 therein adapted to hold one end of a, second carton Bl which serves as the disposer carton. The recessed chamber 2 has a plurality of narrow extensions 26 projecting into the recess or chamber 24 for the purpose of tightly gripping the disposer carton Bl The top capping member C comprises a closed capping member 29 for the dispenser carton B and an open capping member 3| for the dispenser carton Bl. The aforementioned top capping member shown as :a single unit may be made in two units.

The upper capping or top carton supporting member C has a closed chamber 28 in member 29 to telescope with the upper end of the carton B whereby the dispenser carton B is firmly held in position and in alignment with the bottom support l9. In the same plane therewith is an open chamber 3!! in element 3| to telescope with the disposer carton Bl. In other words, the top carton supporting member B add-s supporting strength and rigidity to dispenser carton B and to the disposer carton Bl, the top supporting member being closed over the dispenser carton and being open over the disposer carton Bl so that the used cups may be placed in the disposer carton.

Suitable flanges 42 are provided on the capping members to add to the support of the carton held therein.

It is to be particularly noted that in the dispenser unit the ledge 18, the convex surface l6, and the ledge I8A break up the nestling of the cups I4 so that only one cup at a time will be drawn from the dispenser.

Although my invention has been described in considerable detail, the description is illustrative only as the invention may be variously embodied, and the invention is to be limited only by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. A dispenser for disposable paper cups comprising a, bottom capping member having an opening through which the cups are drawn, an original cardboard carton supported on said bottom capping member, cups in said carton, outturned flaps on the lower edges ofsaid carton 'for holding the carton to said capping member,

and means on said capping member for holding the carton, said means including a plurality of inclined slots in said capping member, said slots receiving said outturned flaps of said carton.

2. A dispenser for disposable paper cups comprising a bottom capping member having an opening through which the cups are drawn, an original cardboard carton supported on said bottom capping member, cups in said carton, outturned flaps on the lower edges of said carton, means for holding the carton to said capping member, said means comprising a plurality of inclined slots in said capping member, said slots receiving said outturned flaps of the carton, an anti-nesting cup means comprising parallel horizontal flanges on said capping member for engaging said cups, and a convex cup engaging member between said flanges.

HOWARD B. HAI'I.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,297,205 McLaren Mar. 11, 1919 1,346,792 Bergman July 13, 1920 1,365,516 Luellen Jan. 11, 1921 1,741,474 Moore Dec. 31, 1929 1,041,370 Tatlow Oct. 15, 1912 2,004,520 Conti June 11, 1935 1,778,248 Doughty Oct. 14, 1930 

